Off-the-Shelf

Marge wrote:
There once was a poet named Johnathan.
Who could'nt switch his rhyme-maker "on again".
He cleared his thoughts most spaciously
and said "Why did I use a word like voraciously?
That elicited a hearty chuckle, Marge!
:)

Thanks for the comments and the poesy. Don't worry about the meter being off. McSheey never concerned himself with meter, mainly because he had a fear of the metric system. In fact, once while on vacation in Canada, he got into fisticuffs with a waiter at a Toronto lakeside cafe over a liter of sparkling water.

Jonathan wrote:

There once was a poet named "McSheey"
Who munched chocolate quite voraciously.
Then to his regret, he choked upon it.
So grave now stands his legacy.


How's this:

There once was a poet named Johnathan.
Who could'nt switch his rhyme-maker "on again".
He cleared his thoughts most spaciously
and said "Why did I use a word like voraciously?

If Jesus or Mary's image appeared on a potato chip in my house, the Colonel would probably eat it before the Enquirer showed up.

My meter seems bit off but I tried.

There once was a poet named "McSheey"
Who munched chocolate quite voraciously.
Then to his regret, he choked upon it.
So grave now stands his legacy.

Thanks for your comment, Jonathan. Now if you'll excuse me, McSheey needs to go outside and rake some leaves. Happy Halloween.

Awhile back, someone chided Rep. Perry for referring to himself in the third person. Sound familiar?? Regardless we value your input as the sole chronicler of McSheey's exploits. :)

I must be one of the three.
It seems Mr. Mc Sheey's life was one of amazing milestones, or just merely stones as the case may warrant.
Surely the idea of his mother as an early 20th century female wrestler evokes images of early suffragettes, or mayhaps "Suffragette City"---"wham, bam, thank you ma'am" as heard against the canvas in the vaudevillesque wrestling rings of Southie in the early 20th Century.
Ye paint quite a picture, Jack.
Pagan poets must beware dark chocolate!

Did you ever hear that coffin sound?
Did you ever hear that coffin sound?
Did you ever hear -that coffin sound?
Another po' boy is in the ground.

-"Please See That My Grave Is Kept Clean"
Blind Lemon Jefferson, Dallas, 1927

This is WAY more entertaining to read than the actual bible, lol.

the cheese..hmm.. methinks it was "limboygah"..correct?

Moe...Larry...the cheese!!!!

They left the garden just in time
With the landlord cussin' right behind.
They headed East,
and they finally settled down.

One thing led to another:
A bunch of sons,
One killed his brother
And they kicked him out with nothin' but his clothes.

And the human race survived
'Cause all those brothers found wives
But where they came from
Ain't nobody knows.

Then came the flood
Go figure...
Just like New Orleans only bigger.
No one who couldn't swim would make it through.

The lucky ones were on a boat
Think "circus"
And then make it float
I hope nobody pulls the plug on you!

How they fed that crowd is a mystery.
It ain't down in the history,
but it's a sense they didn't
live on cakes and jam.

Lions don't eat cabbage
And in spite of that old adage,
I ain't never seen one
Lie down with a lamb.

From "Origin of Species" by Chris Smither

http://unreasonablefaith.com/2009/06/05/chris-smithers-origin-of-species/

Actually, during the Vaudeville days of the early 1930's, prior to the Three Stooges movie shorts, Shemp Howard was the original third stooge, along with brother Moe and Larry Fine. By the time they got to the point of making movie shorts, 1934, Shemp had left to try a solo career in Hollywood and was replaced with Curly Howard. And then when Curly had a stroke in 1946, Shemp stepped back in to become the third stooge, until his death in 1955. Throughout 1956, old Shemp footage and another actor filmed only from the back (the famous "Fake Shemp") represented the third stooge. The role of the third stooge was eventually filled with the first Joe - Joe Besser, in 1957, who was later replaced with "Curly Joe" - Joe DeRita - in 1959. As one can see, in the Stooge universe it was important to have a seamless transition of power.

The Old Testament started to suck when they replaced Curly with Shem.

Fostering growth, in foreign countries “America” being the role model and well noted for its abundance.

There's good reason for some optimism, now that we have a President who understands that difficult issues require critical thinking and reason aimed at developing fair and honest policies. They cannot be resolved with "patriotic" bluster combined with hypocritical actions as the former administration seemed to believe.

I enjoyed the post as I had not seen it the first time. I have just one issue: I think you mixed up the Abels.

Abel Senior lived to a ripe old age. Abel Junior was William's brother was the night rider to Sudbury and Framingham. He was mortally wounded as he rode back to Concord later that day. Abel Prescott, Jr., was the only man from Concord who died from wounds on the April 18th fight.

I know it's a poor resource but:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abel_Prescott,_Jr.

You can find more elsewhere.

I suddenly feel more "Abel"
The spirit of the revolution IS germane to today's challenges. Thanks!

Thanks for the artwork, Rafio! Keep the faith!

Hi, Jack

Your description of the typical tourist question reminds me of one I got as a taxi driver in Falmouth a long time ago. That was my summer job during college back in the 1960s.

Anyway a middle aged woman got into my cab from the bus and said she wanted me to take her to see the "Cape," and she meant to see the Cape like it was the Plymouth Rock or something.

I politely explained that we were already on the Cape but I'd be happy to show her more of it. So I got a nice, easy half-day tour out of it.

Thanks for the comment, Richard. Glad you enjoyed the post. I just applied to get my Passport renewed, and my third planned trip, after Italy, and after Ireland, and after England (okay, so I guess it will be my fourth planned trip on the ol' bucket list) is to the Holy Land sometime in the hopefully not-so-distant future. I have a lot of religious questions written down in my little green notebook and I'm not coming back until I get some answers. But first I need to reread the gospels, and some of the acts of the apostles and the letters of Paul, etc ... and grow a good thick beard so I mix in. Don't want to look too much like a tourist asking for directions in some Middle Eastern place! "Excuse me, would you be so kind as to point me in the general direction of the Sea of Galilee - thank you oh so much! Hey, where's my wallet? And my Passport?!"
Jack the Lesser

Hi, Jack

Very funny post, but I heard somewhere that the Roman Soldier was actually named Josephus Venerdius. He was very good at getting "just the facts", too.

For a clearer account of Jesus' moral teachings, you might wish to consult the Jefferson Bible, if only to get a better handle on our American Constitution as drafted by Jefferson, and the true nature and extent of the "Christian values" that inform that document.

http://www.beliefnet.com/resourcelib/docs/62/The_Jefferson_Bible_The_Life__Morals_of_Jesus_of_Nazareth_1.html

Oh, she rules, all right. Especially at 4 o'clock in the morning when she gets her second wind!

That dog rulez

Hey JTS......great stuff.

I agree, for some reason everyone (our legislators) seem to be ignoring the crux of the problems and insisting on spending our trillions of our money to "fix" the problems.

If I didn't know better, I would almost think that it's being done on purpose in spite of good judgement and common sense.

Thanks for the cool graphic, CCToday. Lucy loves it ... although now she wants me to buy her a leather biker cap!

Capemom, I actually wrote four other potential blog entries on different subjects around the same time I was writing this one (which I don't normally do), and as it turns out this entry was the most cheerful. Just kidding, sort of. I'll probably be posting those other entries over the course of the month -- so I'll take a second look at them and see about lightening up the mood a bit. Maybe I'll add a knock-knock joke here and there. Something like this: Knock knock. Who's there. The bank. The bank who? No, really, it's the bank - you defaulted on your mortgage and we're here to begin foreclosure proceedings. After all, what good are bad times if you can't have a good laugh. In fact, I heard the Great Depression was a gas! Back in the 1930's people just laughed and laughed! Then again, they had the Three Stooges and the Marx Brothers. Honestly, though, I am disgusted with the current state of the country, but I haven't given up hope yet. I believe our best days are ahead of us. I am hedging my bets, though, and am storing up water and toilet paper in my basement just in case!

We've always got what we voted for..

April Fools Day...year round.

possee

Jack, normally your posts are at most mildly acerbic and usually quite cheerful.

For normally mellow you to be expressing such anger shows how disgusted most of America is with so many things right now, myself included.

"Fools rush in where angels fear to tread."

- from "An Essay on Criticism" by Alexander Pope

"What more do you need to know John T. Sheedy, a/k/a Jack Sheedy, a/k/a Thomas J. McSheey (no d when using small c), that perhaps I am the most foolish fool of all."

Mr. Sheedy, you have looked about you, and clearly you can see you are the wisest of them all. "They, those greedy bums, are the bigger fool.

maverick wrote:
"When my business life began in 1964 I had the philosophy of everyone being trustworthy until proven otherwise."

When I was a kid, my Dad used to tell me a story about a businessman who had a five year old son who asked what he did. When the dad said he was in business, the boy asked what's that. So he told the boy he would teach him all about business and asked the boy to stand on the kitchen counter. Then he kneeled down below and told the boy to jump and he would catch him.

The boy jumped, the man backed off and the boy landed hard on the floor and began crying. Then the man said, son, that's the first lesson about business, never trust nobody -not even your old man.

Cru..."it ain't over til it's over".

This will not be a walkover. Before it is done I believe there will be cuts of the wasteful and government oversight of whatever is spent.

And if not the voters in the next election will get their revenge.

Mav,

When even our 401k's are not safe from the fleecing vultures on Wallstreet, where do we keep our money knowing it will be safe? And those who conserve, paid cash for homes and put savings on the market, where are they today? Ponzie, pyramid, bubbles, and they dare call is free market? It's more like legalized criminal enterprize times trillions. I guess they managed a way to make us all pay for that thing they called war. I wonder how many offshore accounts and 36 million dollar penthouse suites on Park Ave. have been lined with our stolen funds? I don't usually listen to the congressional hearings, but during these uncertain times, it's reassuring to see that they continue to pour more BS on the world with their lies and bandaids. The fox not only raided the hen house, they ran off with the hen house and left nothing but dust behind. Isn't there a law against bankers stealing our money from their banks and then claiming they have the right to do so? No checks and balances? govt had no policies to force AIG into bankruptcy, while they hold our pensions as hostage? Unreal.

Cru...I watched and cried. A joke.

When my business life began in 1964 I had the philosophy of everyone being trustworthy until proven otherwise. It didn't take long to realize that the opposite was true. Trust no one until proven otherwise.

As the yuppie, me, me generation matured lying became systemic. Part of life. Sad, very sad.

http://www.c-span.org/Watch/watch.aspx?MediaId=HP-R-16751

at '39'....hey Mav!...the Fox have raided the hen house!

"Fool me once. . . shame on you. Fool me. . . you can't get fooled again."

-G.W. Bush

And what kind of fools would elect an inarticulate, maleveolent clown like Bush to fool with our economy and our Constitutional democracy itself?

It's like another old saying -you get what you vote for.